Community Church Sermons

Year A

May 11, 2014

Easter 4

Do You Hear What I Hear?

John 10:1-10

Rev. Dr. Sarah Hallstrand

I guess I hit the jackpot today…it’s Mother’s Day and the text is about shepherds. Go figure! This day gives me “bragging rights” about our daughter, Lillian. Not only way prettier than I am, she continually amazes us with her determination and dedication as a clergywoman! Yes, you heard me correctly…she is another one of them….don’t you just love us?! Friends comment that she followed in my footsteps, but I’m here to tell everyone…follows? … hardly! …footsteps? … why, she dances around me in almost every aspect! Lillian is ordained by The United Church of Christ and served as a Chaplain at Vanderbilt Hospital. Presently, she is the Director of Stewardship and Vocational Planning at Vanderbilt Divinity School…her alma mater. By the way, she has 1,715 friends on Facebook! Maybe you are one?

We owe a great deal to the gentle leading of our mothers, especially during our formative years. Just think of all the things your mother taught you. Pearls of wisdom such as, LOGIC…”If you fall off that swing and break your neck, you can’t go to the store with me.”

HUMOR…”When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don’t come running to me!”

My mother taught my brothers about GENETICS…”You are just like your crazy cousin Charlie!”

My mother taught me about RELIGION…”You better pray that will come out of the carpet.” And she taught us about THE CIRCLE OF LIFE…”I brought you into this world, and I can take you out.” But the all time favorite was her teaching about JUSTICE…She would shake her head and moan,”One day you will have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you. Then you’ll see what it’s like! Oh, I can’t wait!”

Seriously, it was Anna M. Jarvis, (1864-1948) who first suggested a national observance of an annual day to honor mothers. President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day on May 9, 1914. Like all days that are set aside for remembering and celebrating, we strive to maintain that spirit of love and respect all year round.

However, I hereby proclaim that this is SHEPHERD SUNDAY, as well! As we have already read, we have an interim shepherd coming to us soon. Dr. Dan Ivins brings to us a well-seasoned history of ministry experiences and from the telephone conversations I had with him recently, I know you’ll enjoy his company as well as his preaching. The committee that selected him did good work on our behalf…thank you!

This morning we heard a beloved hymn of the church….Savior, Like A Shepherd Lead Us.” I like it because it is warm, and devotional in both its lyrics and melody.

Hear again it’s comforting words of assurance, Savior, like a shepherd lead us, much we need thy tender care; In thy pleasant pastures feed us, For our use thy folds prepare; Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, thou hast bought us, thine we are. We are thine, do thou befriend us, Be the Guardian of our way; Keep thy flock, from sin defend us, Seek us when we go astray; Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, Hear, O hear us when we pray.

That last phrase always catches my attention….”Oh hear us when we pray.” In litanies we beg, “Lord hear our prayers.” Now come on, friends, do we really think God has a problem hearing us? Is this petition rooted in fear of being ignored or perhaps our sense of unworthiness? I know that Jesus wants us to be assured that God does hear our prayers. So, the problem must belong to us. Prayer is meant to be a two-way conversation. One of the benefits from the practice of meditating (another word for praying) along with the reading or listening to scripture, hymns, poetry, or silence is the development of our listening skills… giving God your undivided attention. We listen for God’s “still, small voice” by taking the Psalmist’s advice literally, “Be still and know that I am God.”

In the Gospel of John passage, Jesus draws our attention to the importance of the voice of the shepherd. He says, “The sheep hear his voice as he calls his own sheep by name, and he leads them out. When he has brought them out, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, BECAUSE THEY KNOW HIS VOICE.”

I confess, I’ve never had much interest in sheep (I’ve known a few “old goats” in my day) so I had to do some research. Each shepherd of a flock develops his or her own distinctive call. A call or command is a sing-songy mix of clicks, whistles, snorts, coughs, sneezes, words, inflections and even yells that are the shepherd’s own voice. His or her flock recognizes this call and only this voice would they follow even if they were sharing a pen with another shepherd’s flock. Amazing!

The sheep may appear to be living in a rather simple, pastoral setting, but they are far from being safe from dangers in the wilds of Palestine. Think wolves and even human sheep-stealers. They trust their personal shepherd. It is his or her voice they respond to and nobody else’s.

Well, maybe this helps us understand why we find it so difficult to follow the leadership of our personal Good Shepherd. Here is the problem: We can’t recognize His voice over the din of all the other voices in our world!

Let’s face it, we are everybody’s target. Family, business, work, clubs, politicians, news channels, talk radio, emails… buy this, do that, I need money, vote for me, trust me, follow me, try this, be bad, be good, talk it up, internet chatter, tune in, tune out… I can’t hear you for all the noise! It’s insane! We are losing our ability to be silent and to be comfortable in silence. The still, small voice of God can’t reach us…….unless we listen for it.

The popular song Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel written in the Sixties, when I was a Youth Minister, was thought by many to be a Vietnam protest song. But I never thought so.

“Hello darkness, my old friend

I’ve come to talk with you again

Because a vision softly creeping

Left its seeds while I was sleeping

And the vision that was planted in my brain

Still remains…

With the sound of silence.

Thinkers and dreamers ask:

Have you listened deeply to the raindrops?

Have you listened to the stars speaking in the night time sky or the flapping of a butterfly’s wings?

Have you listened to the wind speaking of love and contentment or anger and turmoil?

Have you listened to the “Sound of Silence” that resonates deeply within your own heart?

Visions are born in this silence! The Voice of the Good Shepherd speaks to your silence and you shall hear the words that plant God’s vision in your mind and soul. Prayer enveloped in this holy silence opens the conversation that flows heart to heart…from God’s heart to yours. He leads you into your destiny.

With sorrow, some of us struggle with this truth as a result of the damage and disillusionment born from experiences with “spiritual thieves and robbers” of our past. Our trust abused, we can no longer trust the Church and therefore cannot hear the voice of Jesus as our Shepherd…this is truly the worst kind of brokenness…to be broken hearted and alienated from the rest of the “flock”, so to speak.

But those unique clicks and whistles of the Shepherd’s voice keep coming to us. He is never discouraged. His love is constant…his presence abiding whether you seek him in anguish or in joy. Abraham Lincoln once said, ‘I have been driven many times to my knees, by the overwhelming conviction that I had no where else to go.’

The poet, Gibran, rounds out Lincoln’s remark by saying, “You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance.”

Now here it comes, my “motherly advice” …take time to be with God…everyday….and hush your mouth and slow down your mind for awhile…be quiet….and in that solitude….listen for the Voice of Jesus speaking to your soul.

Our world is more often than not, a very scary realm to live in. It is just too easy at any stage of our lives to get lost and wander. And that is a very sad state of affairs. Your life means something! You are precious to Jesus. Hush…listen ….

Do You Hear What I Hear?